Abu Dhabi: UAE has introduced the Green Visa - a self-sponsored residence visa that is valid for up to five years. A handful of criteria need to be fulfilled to apply for this visa. As per the notification published by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), entrepreneurs, freelancers, and skilled workers can apply for this visa. An entry permit of sixty days would be granted to a foreigner to come to UAE and complete the visa procedure. Here are the details:
Sponsor your family members
Green Visa holders can sponsor their family members (husband/wife, children and parents) too for the same duration. In case the visa expires, you would get up to thirty days to renew it.
Penalty
Those who stay in UAE even after the visa expires would be fined 125 dirhams on the first day. An additional 25 dirham would be charged as a penalty for each day after that. If the person stays in the country illegally for more than six months, a daily penalty of fifty dirhams would be charged. It would go up to one hundred dirhams if the person stays illegally for more than a year.
Green Visa
Entrepreneurs/ investors, business associates, freelancers and skilled workers can apply for this self–sponsored visa. They can stay in the UAE for five years and run their business or do freelance work. Here are the criteria to be fulfilled to secure eligibility for the Green Visa:
Those who have a valid employment contract, hold a minimum bachelor’s degree or have a salary of not less than 15,000 dirhams.
The applicants for Green Visa should submit evidence of their investment in UAE. Self–employed persons and freelancers should have a bachelor’s degree and an income of not less than 360,000 dirhams in the last two years. Freelance/self-employment permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
Who is eligible?
Company directors, executives, engineers, and professionals working in science, technology and human resources could apply.
Skilled workers
Skilled persons in nine categories including science, law, education, culture and social sciences are eligible for a Green Visa.
Are you an investor?
In case you are investing in UAE under a foreign company’s name, then you must fulfill the guidelines as per the Commercial Company Act. It should be registered as a public shareholding company, private joint stock company, or limited liability company. If it is a joint venture, then an investment of not less than 10 lakh dirhams should be made. A capital of 10 lakh dirham should be shown in case you are investing in an old or new company. The Green Visa of those who do not adhere to these guidelines wouldn’t be renewed. Instead, it would get transformed into a regular visa that is valid for up to two years.
